The Odyssey: The Java Gold Book One

It is early 1942 and South-East Asia is in flames. The Japanese forces storm south through Malaya, Singapore falls and the battle for the Dutch East Indies begins in earnest. With the Japanese already at the gates of Java, a load of gold bullion is discovered left behind in a bank. In a desperate effort to fly the gold to safety in Australia, a damaged airliner is hurriedly repaired and a scratch crew is assembled. They leave Java in the nick of time but a malignant twist of fate interferes. The airplane malfunctions: they hide the gold and barely escape being massacred by insurgents. Hunted by the outraged authorities, the survivors struggle through the war in a series of harrowing adventures. And at the end of the war, the hidden gold put its spell on them. They try to retrieve the “lost” fortune, but they find that the jinx is still there. Misfortune, violence, and death follow in the wake of their bloody treasure hunt that takes them from the Dutch East Indies across continents, spanning India, Australia, Europe, and North Africa. Their exciting exploits and sizzling romances are juxtaposed with historical developments of places scarred by war and colonialism, the racism of corrupt societies and the emerging threat of terrorism. The tale is replete with danger and treachery as the pursuit of “The Java Gold” shows the treasure hunters that the price of greed is human life.

Robert Kingsley is a Dutch- Canadian author who currently lives in Europe, working as an independent ICT consultant out of the magical city of Amsterdam. He has a son and a daughter, both talented professionals in their own right. And very recently he became grandfather to a lovely grandson.

About his books:
First of all Robert is immensely proud to have reached the semi finals of the "2016 Adventure Writers Competition" with "The Odyssey", the first volume of "Java Gold" series. This multi-part historical fiction story will take the reader all over the world and through half a century of recent history.
He has combined his life-long interest in aviation and military history (especially World War 2) with local, on-site knowledge, gathered during his travels all over the world as an internationally active ICT consultant.

The first two volumes of "The Java Gold" are largely set in the former Dutch East Indies. Not many books have been written about the turbulent post war years in that area and especially Indonesia. The Japanese invasion, the post-war struggle for independence and the general unrest in South East Asia serve as a fascinating background to the story.
The idea for the book was born during a "steak and beer" dinner in a California micro-brewery. He had just come across a number of highly intriguing facts and events that had happened in Indonesia during and after the 2nd world war and said 'I could write a thriller around them'. One of his closest friends dared him to do so.
And so he did...

He originally intended to write a short "action" novel based upon the loss of a planeload of pure gold. But the story took over; love, tragedy and political complications somehow managed to sneak in and now he is busily working on Book Three of a multipart series...